The present invention relates generally to the field of building components, and in particular to a new and useful metal stud arrangement.
A wide variety of metal stud arrangements are known. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,121 to Defrancesco et al; U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,345 to Gilmour; U.S. Pat. No. 6,929,226 to Philistine; U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,598 to Hoefle; U.S. Pat. No. 6,122,871 to Russell et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,344 to Moen et al.
These arrangements usually include top and bottom U-shaped tracks which receive metal studs that are also U-shaped in cross section. Often it is difficult to at least momentarily fix the studs in their respective positions in the top and bottom tracks, for example, on 16 inch centers. For this reason various clips and anchors have been developed for securing at least the top end of the stud in its top track. None of these systems are satisfactory, however, and few permit easy longitudinal movement of the stud along the top track. Such lateral movement is necessary, however, to line-up each stud when a gypsum board is to be fastened to the studs, for example, using screws. In particular, where a pair of gypsum boards meet, the stud must be placed to overlap the edges of both boards so that both can be screwed in place.
Another problem associated with metal studs is that if they cut exactly to the floor to ceiling length, they cannot accommodate movement, for example, downward movement of the ceiling or irregularities in the ceiling or floor. If a gypsum board is installed on such systems and the ceiling moves downwardly even slightly, for example, because of settling, the gypsum board will crack or its seams will open.
Accordingly, a need remains for a solution to the problems described above.